


Small and Broken Knives

by tirsynni



Series: Fix It Thorki Ficlets [1]
Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 09:29:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15458334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirsynni/pseuds/tirsynni
Summary: On the tower, with his brother crying and wild and armed, Thor makes a different choice.





	Small and Broken Knives

_ “It’s too late to stop it.” _

_ “No, we can. Together.” _

When Thor first pulled Loki from the Midgardian vessel and spoke with him, he saw it. He saw it again when he tricked Thor into taking his place in the cage. He saw it now on his little brother’s face, in the shine of tears in his eyes. One slid down Loki’s cheek, Loki seemingly oblivious to it.

Fear. Grief. Pain. 

Thor saw it. He  _ knew  _ it. When Loki looked at the madness around him, there was no triumph in his gaze, no mad glee. His little brother looked frightened and lost.

_ “Who controls the would-be king?” _

As heartsick as Loki’s madness on Asgard made Thor, he understood it, if only too late.  _ This  _ madness made no sense. Proclamations of rulership, leading an army… Far, far too late, Thor grew in understanding of his little brother, and none of this fit.

When grief glittered wetly in Loki’s eyes and twisted his mouth, Thor knew he was going to do something stupid. Thor shifted and yes. There it was. A pathetic pinprick of a knife. His brother’s panic, sharp and painful.

Thor grabbed it and twisted it from Loki’s hand, Loki’s yelp sharp and animalistic in his ear.

_ See, Brother? I know you. _

Thor shifted tactics. Fighting wouldn’t work. For some reason, Loki  _ wanted _ a fight. Something had a hold on his brother, and using Loki’s tactics wouldn’t work here. Loki had many talents, but there was one Thor always won:

Pure brute strength.

When Loki shifted, another blade in his hand, as tiny as the first, Thor let him strike out. He let the blade slide harmlessly pass him and grabbed Loki’s wrist. Loki cursed but Thor was already moving, pulling on Loki’s arm and twisting them both around. Loki could do little more than yelp before he was unarmed and Thor had them both on the ground, his greater mass pinning Loki to the floor. 

Loki shrieked like a beast and writhed, but in matters of pure strength, Thor was always the victor. Loki kicked and Thor wrapped a muscular leg around Loki’s, trapping him. Loki’s clever hands wiggled for more hidden weaponry, but with a flex of Thor’s arm, he trapped them, too. While Loki immersed himself in books and learned his magic, Thor practiced hand-to-hand combat with Sif and the Warriors Three and Tyr. He whispered soothing words into Loki’s damp hair and held on.

With each wriggle and toss of Loki’s body, Thor felt the tense of wiry muscle and the too delicate weight of bone. Always slender, Loki felt  _ thin _ in his arms, breakable. His hair, always slicked back after years of dealing with Thor’s lightning, felt greasy, filthy, and this close, Thor couldn’t mistake the circles under his eyes or the wildness within them.

What  _ happened _ to his brother?

“I have you, I have you,” Thor whispered, and Loki laughed, broken and jagged.

“There is nothing to have,” Loki rasped. “All of this is nothing but an illusion, Thor. There is no escape.”

There it was again: desperation and fear. Thor clung on and kept whispering, even as the battle raged around them. He expected Loki to shift, to turn into a snake, to turn fangs on Thor’s face, but Loki only shuddered and kept grabbing for more hidden knives. Tears streamed down his face, and Loki seemed oblivious to them.

“There is no escape,” Loki repeated. Despair shadowed his words.

Thor pressed a sloppy kiss to Loki’s temple and held on. He let his brother fall once. He refused to let him fall again.

**Author's Note:**

> For more Thorki fics and fandom, check me out on [tumblr](http://tirsynni.tumblr.com/)!


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